Commission Communication on a contingency plan for transport
Date: 2022-02-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: common transport policy



PART-2022-81818V1.docx








Summary report of the results of Public Consultations in the context of Communication on contingency plan for transport



01 February 2022



1. Introduction


The Commission has consulted stakeholders and the broader public on various aspects of the planned Communication on the contingency plan for transport. The objective of the contingency plan for transport is to ensure crisis preparedness and business continuity in the transport sector. The plan aims to establish a “crisis manual” that will include relevant actions to mitigate any negative impact on the transport sector, passengers and the internal market in the event of a crisis


The consultation process consisted of several steps to engage the main target groups:


·Publication of Roadmap, and a request for submission of comments by all interested stakeholders which ran from 31 August until 28 September.


·Open Public Consultation (OPC) was also launched on 31 August and ended on 26 October. 


·Troughout the consultation period, the Commission services additionally received several position papers.


The following key and relevant stakeholder groups were targeted: 


·National public authorities (ministries and agencies responsible for transport) 


·Regional or local public authorities 


·Transport operators/companies and industry associations 


·Passenger associations 


·Academia 


·Citizens 


·Relevant international, regional and European bodies and agencies dealing with transport, including European Union Agency for Railways, European Maritime Safety Agency, and European Union Aviation Safety Agency. 


1.1.Publication of Roadmap 


The Roadmap
1
 for the initiative was published on 31 August, which was open to stakeholder feedback until 28 September. It brought 24 replies, mostly from the associations of private sector operators. 





Figure 1: Summary of responses by stakeholder type (number and % of responses)







Figure 2: Geographical distribution of responses received







1.2.Open Public Consultation (OPC) 


The Open Public Consultation was launched on 31 August and ended on 26 October.
2
 The questionnaire for the consultation was prepared by DG MOVE and consulted with the inter-service steering group. The aim of the consultation was to gather the day-to-day experiences of stakeholders in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and to get their opinions to help shape the contingency plan for transport.. 


The OPC received 76 responses: 52 from business associations, 10 from private citizens, 10 from public authorities, and 4 from NGOs. 



Figure 4: Classification and number of stakeholders responding to the OPC







Figure 3: Geographical distribution of responses received







1.3.Stakeholder views and recommendations


The respondents in general supported the idea of developing a contingency plan and of having a greater clarity on actions to take in the event of a crisis. As to the EU’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, they had appreciated in particular the establishment of the Green Lanes during the COVID-19 crisis as a remedy to closure of borders, uncoordinated responses and last minute changes of national measures that negatively affected transport. Many pointed to the need to avoid a patchwork of rules in time of crisis and stressed the importance of economic support to affected sectors. Some felt that the current crisis response had added new obligations and administrative burden on the transport operators. The stakeholders also welcomed the legislative relief initiatives put forward by the Commission such as the Regulation (EU) 2020/698
                  3
 (Omnibus I) and Regulation (EU) 2021/267
                  4
 (Omnibus II), in which the EU extended the periods set in the relevant EU legislative acts in the field of transport for the training, inspections, issuance of certificates licences or authorisation. At the same time, the postponement of some of the inspections or certificate issuance created backlogs in the aftermath. Similarly, common (?) health and safety rules across all transport modes were recognised as helpful during the COVID-19 crisis as well as initiatives such as Passenger Locator Forms and EU Digital COVID Certificate that helped…???. However, the biggest issue put forward by the stakeholders as problematic was the uncoordinated response and the length of the initial reaction time on the EU level, as well as frequent changing of rules. Furthermore, the stakeholders experienced problems with cross-border operations due to lack of clear and up-to-date information on the national measures as well as due to regular testing requirements imposed on transport workers without easy access to testing facilities, or specific language requirements for tests, as well as unavailability of auxiliary services due to closures or lack of personnel. Some local/regional transport systems experienced loss of connectivity, due to lack of personnel or sufficient number of vehicles allowing to respect sanitary restrictions. From the point of view of passenger rights, passengers reported a lack of information about their rights as passengers, passenger rights that were partially upheld and difficulties to obtain reimbursement for cancelled transport services, while some pointed to the need for specific guidance and measures for passengers with reduced mobility. 



Stakeholders’ recommendations on priority action in time of crisis concerned on the one hand a more uniform, EU-wide approach; on the other hand, they stressed the importance of flexibility:


-Importance of tackling issues linked to scarcity of transport workers (e.g. trough capacity building, pre-identified lists of reserve drivers, more flexibility of driving and rest periods, multimodal solutions).


-Importance of investing and developing digital solutions for managing future crisis.


-Flexibility of rules (e.g. driving restrictions, expired documents such as visas, licences, distance-based training).




-Measures prioritising collective urban transport during the crisis, as they remain the backbone of urban mobility. 


-Importance of designating transport workers as essential workers which would include priority access to vaccination and medical checks; priority access to proper protection material like the disinfection equipment; priority access to rest facilities at restaurants and sites.


-Flexibility allowing granting temporary financial aid to companies (including flexibility for critical infrastructure such as ports and airports). However, stakeholder opinions were divided on this issue given the potential of such aid to distort market competition. 


-Maintaining free movement of goods and workers e.g. trough applying Green Lanes principles; legislating the Green Lanes. 


-Importance of improving mechanisms for communication, coordination and cooperation within the EU (and with the international partners) in order to avoid a patchwork of different rules and exceptions in the future.


-Importance of clarifying and enforcing passenger rights; the necessity to look at the possible introduction of a mandatory insolvency protection mechanism scheme in the airline sector; the necessity to introduce clear rules concerning online intermediaries.


-Importance of compatibility of requirements applicable in the EU with those taken by the international organisations, such as ICAO or IMO. 







(1)
 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13056-Contingency-plan-for-transport_en



(2)
 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13056-Contingency-plan-for-transport_en



(3)


 Regulation (EU) 2020/698 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 2020 laying down specific and temporary measures in view of the COVID‐19 outbreak concerning the renewal or extension of certain certificates, licences and authorisations and the postponement of certain periodic checks and periodic training in certain areas of transport legislation, OJ L 165, 27.5.2020, p. 10.




(4)


 Regulation (EU) 2021/267 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2021 laying down specific and temporary measures in view of the persistence of the COVID-19 crisis concerning the renewal or extension of certain certificates, licences and authorisations, the postponement of certain periodic checks and periodic training in certain areas of transport legislation and the extension of certain periods referred to in Regulation (EU) 2020/698, OJ L 60, 22.2.2021, p. 1.